Wood economy
The existence of a wood economy, or more broadly, a forest economy (since in many countries a predominates), is a prominent matter in many as well as in many other nations with temperate climate and especially in those with . These are generally the countries with greater ed areas. The uses of wood in furniture, buildings, bridges, and as a source of energy are widely known. Additionally, wood from s and , can be employed in a wide variety, including those produced from , as in paper, in early film, , and (a substitute for silk). At the end of their normal usage, wood products can be burnt to obtain or can be used as a . The potential environmental damage that a wood economy could occasion include (problems of reduction the due to forestry—the intensive cultivation of very few types of trees); and CO2 emissions. However, forests can aid in the reduction of atmospheric and therefore decrease . headed down the (the year 1902), containing an entire year's worth of logs from one timber camp.}}The fact is of which paper is the most used wood product. Introduction History of use of wood The wood economy is historically the starting point of the s worldwide, since eras preceding the and the . It necessarily preceded by many millennia, as the melting of metals was possible only through the discovery of techniques to light (usually obtained by the scraping of two very dry wooden rods) and the building of many s and rudimentary tools, as canes, club handles, , s, s. One of the most ancient handmade articles ever found is a polished wooden spear tip ( ) 250,000 years old (third interglacial period), that was buried under sediments in England, at . Successive civilizations such as the and ians built sophisticated . Many types of furniture in and valuable woods have survived to our time practically intact, because secluded in inviolated secret tombs, they were protected from decay also by the dry environment of desert. Many buildings and parts of these (above all roofs) contained elements in wood (often of ) forming structural supports and covering; means of transport such as boats, ships; and later (with the invention of the ) wagons and carriages, winches, flour mills powered by water, etc. Dimensions and geography The main source of the lumber used in the world is s, which can be classified as , and . Much is removed for by local populations in many countries, especially in the , but this amount can only be estimated, with wide margins of uncertainty. In 1998, the worldwide production of "Roundwood" (officially counted wood not used as firewood), was about , amounting to around 45% of the wood cultivated in the world. Cut logs and branches destined to become elements for building construction accounted for approximately 55% of the world's . 25% became (including wood powder and broccoli) mainly destined for the production of and , and approximately 20% became panels in and valuable wood for furniture and objects of common use (FAO 1998). The World's largest producer and consumer of officially accounted wood are the United States, although the country that possesses the greatest area of forest in Russia. In the 1970s, the countries with the largest forest area were: (approximately 8,800,000 km²), (5,150,000 km²), Canada (4,400,000 km²), United States (3,000,000 km²), (1,200,000 km²) and (1,000,000 km²). Other countries with important production and consumption of wood usually have a low in relation to their territorial extension, here we can include countries as , , , , Sweden, . By 2001 the areas of Brazil were (respect of 1970), to around 4,000,000 km²; the ground cleared was mainly destined for cattle —Brazil is the world's largest exporter of with almost 200,000,000 head of cattle. The booming Brazilian based upon cultivation, is likewise reducing forests area. Canadian forest was reduced by almost 30% to 3,101,340 km² over the same period. Importance in fighting greenhouse effect Regarding the problem of climate change, it is known that burning forests increase CO2 in the atmosphere, while intact virgin forest or plantations act as sinks for CO2, for these reasons wood economy fights . The amount of CO2 absorbed depends on the type of trees, lands and the climate of the place where trees naturally grow or are planted. Moreover, by night plants do not , and produce CO2, eliminated the successive day. Paradoxically in summer created by photosynthesis in forests near to cities and urban parks, interacts with urban (from cars, etc.) and is transformed by solar beams in (molecule of three oxygen atoms), that while in high atmosphere constitutes a filter against beams, in the low atmosphere is a pollutant, able to provoke respiratory disturbances. In a , forestry operations will be focused on low-impact practices and regrowth. Forest managers will make sure that they do not disturb soil-based carbon reserves too much. Specialized tree farms will be the main source of material for many products. Quick maturing tree varieties will be grown on short rotations in order to maximize output. Per nation/continental area In Australia * : these are seven hundred tree species from Australia, that grow very fast in tropical, sub-tropical and semi-arid climates, and are very resistant to forest fires (with their tree cortex) and drought. Its is used in pharmacology, its wood for building, and the small branches as firewood and pulpwood. In Brazil has a long tradition in the harvesting of several types of trees with specific uses. Since the 1960s, imported species of pine tree and eucalyptus have been grown mostly for the and . Currently high-level research is being conducted, to apply the enzymes of fermentation to cellulose in wood, in order to obtain , but the cost is much higher when compared with ethanol derived from costs. * : has a dense, orange-red heartwood that takes a high red shine (brasa=ember), and it is the premier wood used for making bows for string instruments from the family. These trees soon became the biggest source of , and they were such a large part of the economy and export of that country, that slowly it was known as Brazil. * : is the biggest source of the best , that is used to manufacture many objects in , as an example , s, anti-allergic es and (vulcanized rubber). Latex has the ability to adjust to the exact shape of the body part, an advantage over or gloves. In Canada and the US There is a close relation in the forestry economy between these countries; they have many tree genera in common, and Canada is the main producer of wood and wooden items destined to the US, the biggest consumer of wood and its byproducts in the world. The water systems of the , , and to the east coast and the to the central plains and allows transportation of logs at very low costs. On the , the basin of the has plenty of forests with excellent timber. Canada The agency Canada Wood Council calculates that in the year 2005 in Canada, the forest sector employed 930,000 workers (1 job in every 17), making around $108 billion of value in goods and services. For many years products derived from trees in Canadian forests had been the most important export items of the country. In 2011, exports around the world totaled some $64.3 billion – the single largest contributor to Canadian trade balance. Canada is the world leader in practices. Only (28% of Canadian forests) are currently managed for timber production while an estimated are protected from harvesting by the current legislation. US }} * : a prized for its high quality in grain, width, color, and rich warm glow. The first trees were carried to the lands surrounding ( ) from . In the United States, most cherry trees are grown in , , , and . * : this genus is a group of s of the family , originating from high mountain areas from the , and to the . Their scented wood make them suitable for chests and closet lining. Cedar oil and wood is known to be a natural repellent to moths. Actually are planted in western and southern US, mostly for ornamental purposes, but also for the production of s (specially ). * : a native tree of the United States and , with records in fast growth and high statures in brief time. The grows in coastal regions up to altitudes of about 1,800 meters; the grows farther inland, at altitudes ranging from 800 m to 3,000 m or higher. The wood is used for construction, for , for paper pulp, and also as . * is being investigated by in for in order to obtain a tree with a higher content of and a lower content in , in such a way that the extraction of (useful as a fuel) could be easier and less expensive. * : a prized furniture and carving hardwood because of its colour, hardness, grain and durability. Walnut wood has been the timber of choice for gun makers for centuries. It remains one of the most popular choices for rifle and shotgun stocks. In the Caribbean and Central America * : has a straight grain, usually free of voids and pockets. The most prized species come from and . It has a reddish-brown color, which darkens over time, and displays a beautiful reddish sheen when polished. It has excellent workability, is available in big boards, and is very durable. Mahogany is used in the making of many musical instruments, as s, acoustic and electric s' back and side, and luxury s. In Europe Italy The species that are ideal for the many uses in this type of economy are those employed by , that are very well known for their features and the need for certain types of ground and climates. * : being a lightweight wood is easy to transport, as firewood burns easily, grows in damp environments like those present in river flooding areas, stands pollution of water and air. * : in Italy it grows at high altitudes around mountain tops, its timber stand sudden climatic change, from icy winds to high temperatures in sunny afternoon summers, it is excellent for use in the building of exposed structures as bridges, roofs, etc. * : "Mediterranean pine" could be the noble emblem of many coastal areas in Italy, originally giant forests of pines extended from the mouth of the river until and in France, over soils with high , not very apt for agriculture. Its trees produce a vast amount of dry branches that can be burnt, (used for Christmas decoration) and needle-like foliage that can be burnt, or used as . Oils and resins can be used in s and . The are useful elements in Italian cooking (along with are tritured to make sauce). Currently, "progress" has brought to a severe reduction of this magnificent tree extensions, and in many places cheap beach buildings, car-parking and semi-abandoned areas have taken their place. * : in Italy is the most important species for tree plantations, is used for several purposes as manufacture, packing boxes, paper, es, etc. It needs good quality grounds with good drainage, but can be used to protect the cultivations if disposed in lines. More than 70% of Italian poplar cultivations are located in the . Constantly the extension of the cultivation is being reduced, from 650 km² in the 1980s to current 350 km². The yield of poplars is about 1,500 t/km² of wood every year. The production from poplars is around 45–50% of the total Italian wood production. ** In the poplar was the wood of choice for painting surfaces as panels, as in (The by ). Because of this reason, many of the products with the highest , extremely expensive, are made with wood from the humble but durable poplar. ** Because of the presence of , poplar cortex was often used in Europe for the of . Portugal * for : are trees with a slow growth, but long life, are cultivated in warm hill areas (min. temp. > -5°Celsius) in all the west area of shores. Cork is popular as a material for s. Even if the production as s for wine bottles is diminishing in favor of stoppers, in the sake of energy saving granules of cork can be mixed into . These composites have low thermal conductivity, low density and good energy absorption (earthquake resistant). Some of the property ranges of the composites are density (400–1500 kg/m³), compressive strength (1–26 MPa) and flexural strength (0.5–4.0 MPa). Because of this cork can be used as in buildings (as well in its natural form and as a mixture), useful also as . In the industry cork is used for s and s. In the world there are 20,000 km² of cork oak plantations, and every year are extracted around 300,000 tons of cork, 50% in , 15,000 in Italy (12,000 in the island of ). The advantage of this natural industry is that the extraction of cork from layers outer to the does not kill the tree. In Scandinavia and Russia In Sweden, Finland and to an extent Norway, much of the land area is forested, the pulp and paper industry is one of the most significant industrial sectors. Chemical pulping produces an excess of energy, since the organic matter in , mostly and breakdown products, is burned in the . Thus, these countries have high proportions of renewable energy use (25% in Finland, for instance). Considerable effort is directed towards increasing the value and usage of forest products by companies and by government projects. * and : These species comprise most of boreal forest, and together as a softwood mixture they are converted chemical pulp for paper. * : is a genus with many species of trees from and Russia, excellent for acid grounds. They act as in the frozen border between and , are very resistant to periods of and s. The species has been identified as the ideal tree for the acid grounds of the sides of sloped mountains, also in southern Europe, with soils poor in nutrients, where these trees can be used to restrain s. is produced from birch. can be produced by hydrogenation of , which is a byproduct of chemical pulping of birch. Uses of wood Combustion The of wood is currently the largest use of derived from a . Wood fuel may be available as (e.g. logs, bolts, blocks), , chips, sheets, and . Wood fuel can be used for and through s and s, and occasionally for fueling s and steam that . For many centuries many types of traditional s were used in order to benefit from the heat generated by wood combustion. Now, more efficient and clean solutions have been developed: advanced s (with s), s, s and s, that are able to filter and separate pollutants (centrifuging es with rotative filters), thus eliminating many emissions, also allowing to recover a higher quantity of heat that escaped with the fumes. Mean of , was calculated at around 6–17 / , depending on species and moisture content. Combustion of wood is, however, linked to the production of micro-environmental pollutants, as (CO2), (CO) (an invisible gas able to provoke irreversible saturation of 's ), as well as . In Italy has been proposed as a tree cultivated to be transformed into s, because of the excellent ratio of energy extracted from its wood because of poplar's fast growing and capture of atmospheric carbon dioxide to the small amount of energy needed to cultivate, cut and transport the trees. Populus x canadensis 'I-214', grows so fast that is able to reach in diameter and heights of in ten years. Charcoal Charcoal is the dark grey residue consisting of impure obtained by removing water and other volatile constituents from and substances. Charcoal is usually produced by slow , the heating of or other substances in the absence of . Charcoal can then be used as a fuel with a higher combustion temperature. Wood gasogen (gasogen): is a bulky and heavy device (but technically simple) that transforms burning wood in a mix of molecular (H2), (CO), (CO2), molecular (N2) and water vapor (H2O). This gas mixture, known as " ", "poor gas" or " " is obtained after the of dry wood in a (low in ) with a limited amount of atmospheric air, at temperatures of 900° Celsius, and can fuel an . , with a wood gas generator device.}} In the time between World War I and included, because of the lack of , in many countries, like Italy, France, and Sweden, several -powered cars were modified, with the addition of a (a "gasogen"), a device powered by wood, coal, or burnable waste, able to produce (and purify) gas that immediately, in the same vehicle, could power a slightly modified of a standard car (low-compression engine). had to be changed with an air-gas ). There were several setbacks, as the great reduction of maximum speed and the need to drive using low s and wisely dosing the amount of air. In modern cars, modified with a wood gas generator, gas emissions (CO, CO2 and NOx) are lower to those of the same vehicle running with gasoline (keeping the same ). Methanol (the simplest ) behaves as a liquid at 25 °C, is toxic and corrosive, and in basic books is often called "the spirit of wood", since it can be obtained from wood . Rarely, when unwise -makers mix small chunks of wood and leaves with grapes, methanol can be found as a pollutant of the blend of water, and other substances derived from 's fermentation. The best way to obtain methanol from wood is through (CO, CO2, H2) produced by the of wood, a method discovered by ians. Methanol can be used as an oxygen-rich additive for . However, it is usually much cheaper to produce methanol from or from syngas. Methanol is the most important base material for industrial chemistry, where it is often used to make more complex molecules through reactions of and chemical . Gas turbine Tanks The American is powered by a of , that it is able to function also with a mix at 50% of wood powder and , or . Its advantages over - , are the small size and light weight, the lack of a (which gives an advantage against the effect of gun and cannon shots and missile strikes suffered in battle). A setback is the high fuel consumption, since the turbine engine has not the ability to work at a low revolutions per minute rate, much lower than ideal, and during the march this engine consumes twice as much fuel as a modern turbo-diesel engine with and . Construction Wood is relatively light in weight, because its is less than 500 kg/m³, this is an advantage, when compared against 2,000-2,500 kg/m³ for or 7,800 kg/m³ for . Wood is strong, because the efficiency of wood for structural purposes has qualities that are similar to steel. Bridges, levees, microhydro, piers Wood is used to build bridges (as the in ), as well as water and air mills, and generators for electricity. Housing is used as a material in s, and other structures with a broad range of dimensions. In traditional homes wood is preferred for s, s, s and s. Wooden s were traditionally used for home ceilings, but they risk collapse during fires. The development of houses including the " " has revamped the importance of wood in construction, because wood provides acoustic and thermal , with much better results than concrete. Earthquake resistant buildings In Japan, ancient buildings, of relatively high elevation, like s, historically had shown to be able to resist s of high , thanks to the traditional building techniques, employing elastic s, and to the excellent ability of wooden frames to elastically deform and absorb severe s and shocks. In 2006, Italian scientists from patented a building system that they called " ", a seven- wooden building, 24 meters high, built by the "Istituto per la valorizzazione del legno e delle specie arboree" (Ivalsa) of . In 2007 it was tested with the hardest Japanese test for civil structures: the simulation of (7.2 ), with the building placed over an enormous oscillating platform belonging to the NIED-Institute, located in science park, near the city of in Japan. This Italian project, employed very thin and flexible panels in , and according to CNR researchers could brought to the construction of much more safe houses in seismic areas. Shipbuilding One of the most enduring materials is the lumber from n and , specially live oak is 60% stronger than white oak and more resistant to moisture. As an example, the main component in the structure of battle ship , the world's oldest commissioned naval vessel afloat (launched in 1797) is white oak. History of crisis in wood economies Classical Greece One of the most famous of a wood-based economy is what happened in , where trees began to disappear specially in the areas of , and where indiscriminate cutting of trees for several uses, associated to drought and s led to a severe lack of timber in order to build lances, shields, ships, etc. and to a slow but progressive weakening in military and naval power of the peninsular kingdoms in Greece, that were overwhelmed by and by the , much more fertile lands because of their rainy winters. This process arrived to the apex with the conquest of Greece by . The secret weapon of the soldiers (supported by javelineers), commanded by Philipp II in the and in those that followed fought by (which brought to the conquest of , , and ), was the , a type of , longer and stronger (5–7 m.) than the other Greek s, obtained from the heavy and strong . Rapa Nui , best known as "Easter Island", is a typical example of , specifically how the of a populace leads to the end of a . At a certain point, the compelling societal need forces exploitation of the resource above and beyond the resource's natural rate of renewal. It has been calculated that after the year 1000, around 10 million s were cut in Rapa Nui, resulting in the of the fertile land, and eventually to a around the 15th century. (This deforestation may have also been aggravated and/or caused by a rat ). This provoked a population reduction from 15,000 to 2,500 individuals. Without palmtree wood, no boats, or lances could be constructed. Without palm fibers, construction of ropes and fishing nets halted. This led to a decrease in the local fish harvest, which in turn led to a decrease in the quantity of dietary protein available to the island's inhabitants. At the end, the society became an easy prey for and . From 1600 to 1700, the people became superstitious in a fanatical way. In the last moments, there was a disintegration of and total chaos. The destruction of the traditional symbols followed, leading to the eventual extinction of the s and , even if there was not any external human enemy. References Category:Monetary system